Metamorphosis
by KaKiara
Summary: In which Sakura returns to Konoha after a three year mission abroad. The contents of her mission are classified, but they will change herself and Konoha forever. SakuraXKakashi
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters therein. I do not make any money from writing fanfiction.

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><p>It had been a long three years.<p>

Two silhouettes alighted on top of the Hokagé monument and paused to take in the sight. Konoha lay before them; a valley carpeted with twinkling lights and glowing avenues. It was late – or early, depending on how you wanted to look at it – and the city slumbered. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the scent of smoke and crushed pine. Glancing at her constant companion of the last three years, she offered him a small smile and received one back. As quietly as they came, both creatures of the night disappeared, flitting down the mountainside, to report to the Hokagé.

They were home.

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><p>Cool, amber eyes regarded them from across the desk. Taking them in. Noticing every detail. Tsunade had received warning that they were coming home soon, an ink-hawk had contacted her personally as no one other than herself and the Council knew the full details of their mission, but she was unprepared to see with her own eyes whom they had become.<p>

The quiet but strong girl whom she had taken under her wing so long ago had transformed. Long, luminescent locks of coral hair blushed lilac under the moon's blue glow. The woman in front of her was dressed for work. A standard mesh undershirt covered by a black short sleeved tunic melted her body into the shadows of the office. Slim, steel plated vambraces covered her forearms and underneath them, armoured gloves ran up to her biceps but her black Anbu tattoo remained uncovered. '_Still proud of it_,' Tsunade thought, taking a quiet moment to reminisce on the young woman's exhilaration upon passing the Anbu exams five years ago.

The young man beside her had changed just as much. He had gained muscle, but had not quite lost his near feminine beauty. His jaw had become more defined, but even in the dark room, she could see his skin was still an ivory white. A more practical Anbu chest plate now covered his broad shoulders in place of his old half-length shirt. The corded muscles in his arms rippled as the ninjas pressed their palms together and inclined their heads in a gesture of respect.

Tsunade couldn't move. All the regret and sorrow she'd felt over the last three years decided to choose this moment to lodge in her throat, forcing her to choke on her greeting. Yes, they had both changed, but it was her pupil that rendered her speechless. It was her eyes. The new strength in her gaze.

"Welcome back," she forced out.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"Thank you, Shishou."

The pair before her straightened.

"Did find what you set out for?" she ventured, eager, but apprehensive. No other squad she had sent out had come back with anything valuable. A new trick or two, or an improvement on a technique yes, but none had accomplished their mission to the degree she had hoped for.

As Hokage, maintaining the Land of Fire's political and economic power was her responsibility. The Village Hidden in the Leaves was the backbone of the country's economy; leaf ninja, its lifeblood. With so few kekkei genkai left, it was her responsibility to make sure every squad she sent out had an ace to play; a trump card in the event they ran into enemy forces. At least, that's what the Council lectured her on after her inauguration. Tsunade agreed, but her motivation to strengthen Leaf's squads differed. She just wanted to do whatever was necessary to protect what was precious to her.

She had sent out every qualified ninja in her command. Across the Five Great Shinobi Nations, from to the Land of Snow to Sea Country, chunin and jonin travelled the lands, researching, stealing and learning as many techniques as possible. Ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, she didn't care. So long as Konoha would be stronger for it. So long as more ninjas would returned home.

But their efforts had not been entirely fruitless, but no one had delivered the results that she had been looking for. She had reconciled her loses. Originally, she had hoped that by finding or learning what had already been developed, but forgotten, they could maintain the Land of Fire's status as one of Five Great Shinobi Nations.

Developing new techniques had been the only option left.

It was a wrenching decision to make. Throughout her years as a medic, she had seen the hellish results of chakra experimentation gone wrong. Gruesome memories of blood splattering on bleached tile, the harsh sting on antiseptic in her nose, the cold bite of medical instruments cutting through flesh – desperately trying to save as much of a body as possible – still plagued her nightmares. Young ninja in particular were prone to dabbling in forces they didn't understand. Anything to prove their mettle.

Idiots.

To dapple in unexplored realms of chakra manipulation was to meddle with the soul's attachment to the body; dangerous at best, lethal at worst. It required both extensive knowledge of the nature of chakra and the ingenuity to transform it in previously unconsidered ways. Her pool of potential candidates for the mission had immediately shrunk to an infinitesimal size.

So, three years ago, with a heavy heart, she had sent out her could-have-been-daughter, accompanied by one of her most loyal ninjas. She had nurtured Sakura's affinity for healing and had watched her grow into one of Konoha's top medics. Her unparalleled chakra control, coupled with her talent for genjutsu and more than satisfactory aptitude in the other ninja arts made her perhaps the prime candidate for experimenting. Moreover, her skills as a medic would be crucial if mistakes were made.

'_When mistakes were made_,' Tsunade had corrected herself. To think otherwise was to embrace ignorance and naivety. She could not fool herself; when it came to chakra experimentation whatever could go wrong, would go wrong. And by god, everything could go wrong.

To decrease the odds of the pair being harmed, she had decided to send Sai. She had known his infallible concentration and detached, collected demeanor would be invaluable when carrying out risky trials. In addition, his extensive training in Root had exposed him to an array of uncommon ninja arts. He was what every Kage longed for in a ninja: obedient and deadly. He understood perfectly why such risks had to be taken to make Konoha stronger.

Their bond from working together in Team Seven was an unexpected bonus. Sending out a team that had extensive experience working together always yielded a higher mission success rate.

"Yes, Shishou."

Her heart gave a painful throb, jolting her mind back into the present. They were back, standing in her office, safe and unharmed after so much time.

Sakura stepped forward, bands of moonlight and shadow rippling across her form. She reached into the side slit of her skirt for the thick scroll secured to the side of her leg band.

"Our full report," she said, as she leaned over to place it on the desk. Sakura glanced up into Tsunade's eyes and lifted the corners of her lips in a melancholic smile. The student and teacher shared the same expression. Pain and love were two sides of the same coin.

'_Families_,' Tsunade decided, '_were never meant to be apart for so long_.'

Heaving a great sigh, she stood up, scraping the chair against the floor. Treading softly towards them, she stood facing two precious members of her surrogate family. An arm went around a shoulder of each as she pulled them into a hug. The pain from spending the last three years without them, which had tightly wound itself around her heart, clenched a few last times and vanished, making room for a soaring feeling of relief.

"It can wait until the morning," she breathed. The corners of her eyes filled with moisture that she rapidly tried to blink away. An arm encircled each side of her. "You both need to get some rest. Go home, go sleep in your own beds. You both deserve it," she said.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," murmured Sai.

Sakura inclined her head in acquiescence.

Straightening, she reluctantly ended their embrace and smiled at them, gesturing towards the door. Both ninjas bowed and spared her a grateful glance before they turned and headed for the exit. As they were half way out the door, she spoke.

"I'm proud of you."

Both ninjas turned and looked at her. Shared a brief look. And smiled.

"Thank you," they answered together.

As silently as they came, Sakura and Sai slipped from the room, into the darkness of the night.

They were home.

To Be Continued

To Be Continued...

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><p><span>Author's Notes:<span>

1) I feel like telling anyone who is reading this that it is currently snowing outside my window. It looks gorgeous.

2) Hello there! …I probably should have started with a hello.

3) The idea for this story has been building in my head for a while now. Even though I have read fanfiction for about five or six years, I rarely write my own stories… However: I have almost run out of stories to read. Yes, you read that correctly. I have read nearly every story that features my favourite character pairings and my favourite authors just don't write fast enough. Thus, I am faced with two choices. A: read the stories that do not make grammatical sense (which I previously skipping reading), or B: write my own stories. I decided on option B.

4) In case you're wondering, my favourite character pairing is Sakura and Kakashi. An _older_ Sakura. Don't ask me why, I really don't know. Usually I'm not into pairings that aren't at least hinted at in the anime/manga, but this one has hijacked my brain and force-fed me delicious, addictive, obsession-forming drugs.

5) So it's not my fault. Got that?

6) If you do review, I hereby promise that I will respond, no matter how short the review, and I am _always_ grateful for constructive criticism.

I do hope that you have enjoyed reading this story so far and I will be continuing to write more Naruto fanfiction in the future.

Have a lovely day.

Love, KaKiara


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters therein. I do not make any money from writing fanfiction.

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><p>'<em>Exactly as I left it<em>.'

Her sandals hit the floor with a light thud as she flicked them off her feet. Sakura wiggled her toes into the thick carpet in her entryway and let a breathy groan escape her throat.

There was no carpet like her carpet.

Arching her back, she raised her arms above her head and languorously stretched, systematically popping each knot in her back and shoulders. A wince twisted her lips. Resting her temple against the doorway, she surveyed her apartment.

To her right, she could make out her old, lumpy couch and bursting bookcases in the dim light sloping in from the living room window. As tempting as it was to take the few steps necessary to flop down and sleep until winter, Sakura trudged forward, rubbing at the still-sore muscles in the back of her neck.

Her bed awaited.

Sorrowfully, she glanced to the left into her small kitchen as she passed it. Getting up tomorrow to go to the grocery store wasn't part of her ideal first-day home, but she knew come morning the vague, empty feeling in her stomach would escalate to a gnawing hunger.

Her thoughts trickled to a halt as she reached her bedroom door at the end of the short hall. The mechanisms in the door knob clicked as she turned it, but the door was silent as it swung inwards under her touch.

The familiarity of her home soothed her. For so long, she had slept in cheap inns, rickety huts, or on forest floors – rarely having the luxury of a proper bed – but now, having a consistent place to sleep night after night – _in her own bed, none the less_ – seemed surreal.

Her blinds let in just enough street-light to illuminate the center of her room, leaving the walls and ceiling draped in shadow. She noiselessly padded across the floor, unstrapping her vambraces and slipping off her armoured gloves as she walked. Tossing them into the darkness, Sakura made her way to the side of her bed in a daze. She could hardly believe she was home. The duvet felt blissfully soft in her weary hand as she threw it back, more than ready to sink into her mattress.

Half in bed, a bright reflection caught her eye.

She picked the photo frame up off of her headboard and rubbed a thumb over a corner of the glass. Many times she had wished she'd taken it with her, but now she was glad she had the foresight to leave it at home; their belongings had frequently been damaged due to violent weather or their experiments.

Placing it on the mattress, she unwound the cotton strips that secured her kunai holster to her thigh and let both items slip from her fingers to land beside the bed. Her medic belt soon followed. Turning back to the frame, she picked it up again and studied it. It was the only photo of the original Team Seven ever taken. There would be no other. There _could_ be no other.

She shifted, folding her legs under her.

And stared at the face she would never see again.

Word of Sasuke's death had reached the village a few months after Naruto defeated Pein. Despite all the sorrow he had caused them, the worry and the stress, at the end of the day her heart still ached unbearably when she looked at his young image. As she had matured, she realized her girlish infatuation with him was senseless and even acknowledged that it probably prevented them from bonding as a team. But even as she came to this realization, her love for him refused to budge.

In the end, she understood: he was her comrade.

Her friend.

Her family.

And he had meant to world to her.

If she knew that the wrenching, hollow grief which settled in her heart after his death was merely a prequel for the bitter longing that had haunted her on her last mission, she would not have had the strength to leave.

In the most unexpected moments, memories of her friends' laughs, smiles and quirks had burst into her mind, stealing the breath from her lungs. While brushing her teeth. Sharpening weapons. Deciding which papaya to buy.

She knew Sai had experienced similar episodes. On some nights she had awakened to the sound of graphite on paper. For hours and hours the pencil would scritch and scratch against the parchment. But the next morning he would stow the drawings away in the bottom of his pack and pretend they didn't exist.

Once, out of curiosity, she opened his sketchbook to see what he had drawn. Her curiosity rewarded her with an emotional breakdown. One that she was not very proud of. To see her friends staring out of the page at her, smiling, their eyes bright with laughter…

Naruto's cheeky grin…

Kakashi's eyebrows pinched together, nose inches away from an Icha Icha…

Tsunade, pouting as she peered into the depths of an empty sake bottle…

Page after page, the drawings had gone on and on. Ino, Shino, Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata, Kiba, Neji, Tsunade, Shikamaru, Shizune, Gai, Tenten, Chogi, Kurenai, Lee…. They went on and on. People together, training, laughing, fighting beside each other…

Each illustration had reached out a grubby hand and greedily grabbed onto a piece of her heart, ripping it from her body – leaving her to nurse the decimated remains. Yet her hand had continued to reach out, turning page after page, desperate to sate her soul's thirst for their warmth. Her desire to see them, even facsimiles of their true selves, had dominated her instinct to shield her heart.

She knew they were just images.

She knew she had agreed to the mission, fully aware of its length.

But for every page she turned, another tear crept down her cheek.

Sai had found her as she turned over the last page of his sketchbook. Quietly, he had joined her at their campfire and placed an arm around her shoulders. His physical presence slowly warded off the deep chill which had settled in her soul. No conversation floated across their campsite that night as they sat, quietly sharing their sorrow.

Thank god that was the only breakdown anyone else had seen. The twenty-fifth rule of shinobi conduct clearly stated: a shinobi must never show emotion. Gone were the days when she believed in that rule – she had watched some of Leaf's greatest ninja throw it to the wind on multiple occasions – but she still couldn't help but feel a little bit ashamed of her reaction. Definitely not her proudest moment.

After that, she learned to supress her pain. Swallow the memories of the people closest to her. Force them from her mind. Whenever the longing grew to be unbearable, she reminded herself that they were away to protect their friends, so that this willful separation would be the longest one – never would they have to say goodbye for good.

This knowledge gave them the strength to stay away for so long, the drive to search, experiment, and bend their chakras in ways they had never been taught, to create new techniques.

But tomorrow – _god, tomorrow_ – she would see them again.

A tiny smile curved her lips as her gaze wandered over to the other members in the picture.

Naruto.

She choked back a laugh at his expression. Jealousy emanated from every muscle in the blond's body. Arms folded, he had gritted his teeth and glared at Sasuke while the photographer snapped a quick photo. Right after the flash went off, the rivals had loudly declared that they didn't have time for girly photo-shoots and needed to get back to training for yet another one of their endurance contests.

A ramen-eating contest, if she remembered correctly.

And leaning over all three of them, Kakashi.

The man of a thousand jutsus, who had the bad luck to be assigned to their genin squad. She had to hand it to him, no one else in the village would have been able to handle a hate-filled heir as well as a Jinchuuriki, and still maintain such a relaxed disposition. His hands rested on top of the boys' heads.

Out of affection or to forcibly keep them apart, she couldn't tell.

It seemed as though no matter how much the two boys fought, the perpetually late jonin had always turned up in time to separate them before Sasuke could turn their rivalry into something of a more sinister nature. Sasuke probably only stayed in the village for as long as he did because of Kakashi. But even the Copy-nin couldn't persuade him to abandon his quest for vengence; in the months leading up to his desertion their teamwork had all but abated, destroyed by their fighting and incessant arguing.

Wistfully, she replaced the photo on her headboard. She hadn't seen what she had in the others until it was too late.

She learned her lesson long ago; now nothing was more precious to her now than her comrades. Never again would she let one of them slip through her fingers.

They were a part of her life. One that she knew she couldn't live without.

Hell if they wanted to be or not.

Comforted by the knowledge that they were sheltered by the same village walls tonight, she nestled her head into the pillow and let her eyes drift close.

She was in her bed.

In her room.

In her home.

Sakura could not recall ever being so grateful to the Hokagé.

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><p>The mission had gone horribly wrong; of this, Kakashi was entirely sure.<p>

Pillars of light broke through the foliage, penetrating the web of shadows that permeated the gloomy forest. The harsh angles of lights created a better camouflage than he could have hoped for. High in the mossy canopy, he crouched in one such patch of darkness, his back uncomfortably pressed against rough bark.

Twirling a kunai around his finger, he reviewed the situation.

For four hours he had been evading a twelve man squadron. His assignment was intended to be a strictly routine reconnaissance expedition into an abandoned Sound hideout, deep in the Land of Rice Fields. Strictly a travel-and-report mission. There and back. No fighting. No enemy ninja…

No discovering underground labyrinths, stocked with enough weapons and provisions to lay siege against a small village.

No, none of that.

Hastily, he mentally flicked through his knowledge of his opponent's strengths, trying to come up with a new strategy.

Four ninja with water chakra natures.

Two with earth.

Two wind.

One lightning.

One fire.

Two still unknown.

Four freaking hours.

A wry smile crawled across his features, hidden by his mask. The marshy wetlands fifty feet below him gave half of his attackers a natural advantage. Many times he had nearly evaded them only to have water or earth clones rise up in front up him, blocking his path.

His own specialty jutsus were nearly useless. Upon detecting his presence in their lair, they had immediately grouped into twos and organized themselves into an inner and outer ring with him as their center. He would have commended them on their teamwork if he was their commander and not their target. The double ring formation simultaneously forced him to fight outnumbered if tried to break through their wall, and prevented him from sneaking around them. He couldn't confront one or two opponents without leaving his back vulnerable to attacks from the others and he couldn't unleash a widespread assault on all of them in such a dense forest. After four hours of evasion tactics interspersed with quick, intense skirmishes, he knew they were waiting for him to run out of chakra. They were toying with him. Underestimating him.

He was outnumbered, but they were outclassed. After all, he wasn't just handed the title of the Copy-Ninja.

Coming to a decision, he took the liberty of changing his mission objective. Under no circumstance could he fail to inform Tsunade of the threat looming just on the other side of Fire's border.

He bit into the pad of his thumb and smeared the welling blood on his opposite hand. Keeping his senses tuned for any incoming movement, he formed the summoning hand signs and slapped his palm against the thick branch.

It was time for his face to reclaim its rightful place at the front of the Bingo Books.

"-nd then she said, 'It iz not zat I prefer zee new 'eadband to ze old one, but-' _mphhh_!"

"I'm sure she's secretly impressed," Kakashi whispered. Gently releasing his fingers from around Pakkun's muzzle, he held the side of a long index finger up to his lips.

Momentarily startled from finding himself in a new location, Pakkun refocused and took a cursory intake of his surroundings. He turned back to Kakashi and regarded his slumped form. The wrinkly folds between his bows deepened as his eyes roamed over crimson patches of uniform and the dirt smudged across his master's brow. A red-rimmed eye stared back at him. The pug could not remember seeing Kakashi this drained since returning to Konoha from the Valley of the End with an unconscious Naruto in his arms.

Keeping his voice pitched low, Kakashi murmured, "Track down Tsunade and give her this message."

Pakkun gave a sharp nod. Now wasn't the time to ask 'how's or 'why's.

"Our Intelligence is wrong; Area Twenty-Three is inhabited and armed. The hideout is a fully functional, militarized base, but is currently operating at a fraction of its potential capacity." He spoke quickly, trying to adequately paint the situation before the ninjas closed in on him. "I estimate it can house a force of seventy to eighty indefinitely."

A sense of foreboding settled deep in the pug's chest. He knew what was coming next.

"Head south and cover your tracks. You have a twenty minute head start."

"Kakashi…" Pakkun let out a low whine of frustration. The man's visible eye creased. A large hand moved itself from his knee to affectionately rub the dog's ears.

"To Tsunade, Pakkun."

A barrage of exploding-tag kunai whizzed through the air and implanted themselves with heavy _thunks_ on the underside of the branch that the man and dog were sitting on.

A concussion ripped through the air.

Barely visible through the thick haze, a tall, sallow-faced ninja materialized upside-down, higher up in the tree. Tasting the sooty air with a black, forked tongue, his eyes gleamed with a predatory hunger.

The plumes of smoke dissipated to reveal a scorched but empty branch.

Peeved, the ninja let out a hiss.

"Fuck! You're pathetic, Hachuurui!" he screeched. "He was right there, how could you have missed him?"

His partner emerged from behind another ancient tree.

Converging on him, the sickly-looking man continued to yelling obscenities.

"I am so sick of playing this waiting game! And you, you just had to screw up our best chance to take him out! Do you want to risk him escaping, hmm? Couldn't you see that he was a fucking _Leaf_ ninja? Don't you understand how much shit–,"

His mouth continued moving but no noise came out. Perturbed, he tried to speak again, only to speckle his haori with drops of blood. His vision wavered. Looked down at his chest, he saw his lifeblood rapidly soaking his garments.

A burning white tantō was plunged deep in his ribcage. His heartbeat quickened at the sight, pumping his life out of his body even faster. It flowed down the sharp edge of the blade and dripped off of the weapon's hilt.

Staring back up into the eyes of his partner, his mouth mimed silent accusations before the weight of his unresponsive body forced his frame to slide off of the blade and collapse in a boneless heap on the ground.

A frigid numbness travelled up the ninja's extremities as his ruined lungs convulsed, spraying blood over the forest floor. Looking up at the face of his killer, he could've sworn that just for a moment, one of his eyes turned a deep crimson.

The last thing he saw was his partner's face. Not standing above him, but twenty feet away, pressed into the ground. Hachuurui's gaping mouth and empty eyes seemed to silently mock him from underneath the unruly bush that hid his body. Confusion clouded the ninja's brain as darkness rapidly encroached on the edges of his vision.

'_But… he stabbed m– …_'

His life slipped away before he could complete his thought.

Wiping his blade clean on soft moss, Kakashi decided he would be sharing some rather strong words with whoever was responsible for the mission's Intel. He rolled the corpse at his feet under the same bush as the first.

Nice and neat.

Rustles from the forest rapidly began to converge on his location. Closer and closer ever second. Maintaining his henge, he regretfully siphoned off more of his remaining chakra to create two shadow clones.

Kakashi took a standard taijutsu stance. Beside him, a forked-tongued clone adopted a similar position, while a copy of his normal body placed himself a short distance away.

Bodies crashed into the little clearing and converged on the solitary clone, leaving their backs unguarded to the true ninja.

The bloodbath began.

'_Reconnaissance, my ass_.'

Unnoticed, a little dog slipped beneath the underbrush and ran away.

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><p><span>Author's Notes:<span>

1) Hello!

2) I would first like to take a moment to thank StarKiss666, KITTY LOVES MATTXMELLO, InoSakuShine, Selphie108, fiona91, rainfurr26 and Inume-blue for taking the time out of their lives to review my story. I am deeply grateful and honoured. Thank you.

3) I do hope you (all of you) enjoyed this chapter. If not, that's ok and I always welcome constructive criticism.

4) I know the first half of this chapter is mainly reflections and lacks action, but I tried to balance that with a more action-packed second half. The next chapters are certainly going to have less 'I remember…' scenes and more plot. It's about time I have a few reunions J

5) And I'm sorry this took a little longer to post than I intended – I bought a book on English grammar and a book about common writing mistakes, and I decided to finish reading both before updating. (Well, most of the grammar book – there are so many rules!)

6) That being said, I have Chapter 3 well on the way!

7) As always if you review I promise that I will respond, no matter how short the message. I will admit that I let out a little squeal every time I saw I had another review. Actually, it was more of a crossbreed between a squawk and a hiccup, but that's not the point. Knowing that someone else is interested in your writing is the extremely gratifying and amazingly encouraging.

8) Thank you for reading!

Love, KaKiara


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters therein. I do not make any money from writing fanfiction.

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><p><em>Bam, bam, bam!<em>

Sakura let out a guttural moan and pulled the covers higher over her head.

_Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam!_

What was that ungodly racket?

And, more importantly, who the hell was making it? After travelling for eight days straight, Sakura was sure she deserved to sleep in. Whoever had the balls to wake her up on her first day back was about to meet their maker.

_Bam, bam, bam, ba–CRASH!_

Effectively jolted out of her half-slumber, Sakura bolted upright.

Too fast.

The bright midmorning light struck her drowsy eyes, sending her diving back under the blankets. She molded her palms to the contours of her eyes in an attempt to soothe the irritated nerves. It didn't help, but she did discover a thick layer of grime gluing together her eyelids. What the hell was the purpose of that stuff, anyway? She vigorously rubbed at the crusty corners of her eyes. Whoever invented mornings needed to go die in a hole. Honestly, it felt like something had crawled into her mouth and died.

"Ah, shit."

She froze, mid-rub.

She knew that voice. Admittedly, it was deeper than she remembered, but there was no mistaking it.

"Uh… Maybe it was always like that?" And it was rather panicked.

She untangled her legs from the abused blankets, ran to her bedroom door and yanked it open.

A tall, blond shinobi stood in her foyer, his back to her, frantically trying to balance the door on its broken hinges. Very carefully, he stepped away from the crooked door, doing his best not to send any vibrations through the floor that might send it tumbling away from the frame.

"Do you think she'll notice?" he asked. The dark-haired man beside him raised a delicate eyebrow.

"No. I'm sure she won't be able to tell the difference," Sakura replied from her bedroom door.

Naruto's head whipped around.

"Sakura!"

The blonde grinned and held out his arms as he ran towards her.

No longer able to keep a straight face, Sakura beamed and met him in the middle of the hall.

Her feet cleared the floor as Naruto crushed her to him in a bear hug.

_Ooof!_ He'd gotten stronger, too. She wrapped her arms around him, burying one in his unruly locks and grabbing hold of the back of his shirt with the other.

"… -eally missed you," she heard him mumble into her neck. She let out a long breath and focused on the feeling of his arms wrapped securely around her. She never thought of herself as someone who craved physical contact, but right now, she understood Naruto's continuous yearning for physical proximity growing up. Nothing was more real or solid or _there_ as Naruto was now.

"I missed you too," she replied, running her fingers through his hair.

She stayed in his arms for several long moments before he lightly set her back down on her feet. Sakura was stunned to find herself staring at a pair of pectorals. It looked like he finally got the growth spurt that he had prayed for in their early years as a team.

"Kami, I missed you guys so much," he said, wrapping one arm around her shoulder and waving the other at Sai, "but the last few weeks have been brutal! I mean, it was one thing to know that I had to wait like forever, but to know that you could be back any day, I mean man, the anticipation was killing me!" He beamed down at her, content to be in their company once again.

Sakura lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "You knew we were coming back? I thought our arrival was classified information."

"It would seem as though Naruto has either received a higher security clearance or embraced a more tactical approach to gathering information while we've been away," Sai commented with a frown. "I find it difficult to decide which is more unlikely."

Giggling at Naruto's outraged spluttering, Sakura reached up to pat him on the head.

"You know, I really can't see you as stealthy," she mused.

"Hey now, I've gotten much more awesome since last time you saw me. And for your information, I took it upon myself to conduct a secret investigation on your mission. It was a pretty delicate operation, ya know. _Super _stealthy."

"You went snooping in Tsunade's desk, didn't you?" she deadpanned.

He had the decency to blush, "… Maybe," he responded, "Just for a little while." He held two fingers a millimeter apart to emphasis his point.

"And you're still alive?" She checked for his pulse on his neck and pushed back his eyelids to peer into his eyes, trying to determine if he was truly still living.

He squawked in mock outrage. "Of course! No need to kill my eyes." "Just wait until you see my awesome new skills in action. Besides, I'm totally Baba-chan's favourite. She wouldn't be mad at me."

Sai looked unconvinced. "Are these 'awesome skills' the same ones that you used to break into my apartment?"

"You what?"Okay, maybe Naruto did have a brain injury…

"Hey! You make it sound so sketchy!" Naruto said, holding up his hands in defense. Noticing the look she was giving him, he hastily backtracked and tried to explain himself. "When I found out you were coming home, I wanted to be the first to see you guys when you got back, so I camped out at Sai's. It's not like you were using the place anyway. And I would've come to see you, Sakura, as soon as Sai came in the door, but he made me wait until the morning." He gave her an apologetic look.

She sent a quick smile to Sai. As wonderful as it was to see Naruto again, she didn't know if she would have been lucid enough last night to fully enjoy their reunion. Sai must have been as tired as she had been, but he had retained enough energy to knock some propriety into the blonde's head.

"But that's the past now. _So,_ since we're all together now, why don't we have breakfast and you guys can tell me about all the cool places you've been to. I'll even be nice and make it!" He dragged them both into her kitchen and steered them towards her little table. Sakura and Sai obediently sat down.

Sakura's stomach voiced its approval of breakfast. "Catching up sounds great, but I gave away all my food before we left so that it wouldn't go–"

"Hey, you have miso! Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed from the depths of her fridge. "I was craving that this morning!"

_Eh_?

She gave Sai a '_what-the-heck-is-he-talking-about'_ look, but was surprised when the corners of his mouth turned up in a genuine smile. Now completely stumped, Sakura got up from her chair, walked over to her fridge, and peered over Naruto's shoulder.

A pile of food stared back at her. Tofu, eggs, fish wrapped inpaper, seaweed, a large container of miso soup and _ooh, that looked suspiciously like a takeout container from her favourite dango shop_, crowded her fridge. How the hell did all that get in there?

"My kitchen was similarly stocked upon my arrival," Sai offered as an explanation.

"Miso soup all around it is," declared Naruto. He grabbed the container, nudged the fridge shut and busied himself trying to find a pot.

A fluttering caught Sakura's attention. A little piece of paper was taped to the front of her fridge. Lifting it up with the tip of a finger, she inspected the smiley face drawn on it. A little vertical line bisected the right eye.

_Kakashi_.

Unbidden, her throat tightened and she had trouble swallowing. The man _still_ looked after them.

"It would seem as though Naruto wasn't the only one who broke into our apartments." Or knew that they were coming back home.

"You see, Sai?" Naruto scoffed as he poured the soup into a large pot and set it on her stove,"It's no big deal; even Kakashi-sensei did it."

"Kakashi-senpai executed a perfect infiltration; unlike you, he did not leave any evidence of his entry or his presence in my home."

"Blah-blah-blah. Hey Sakura, where are your wooden spoons?"

"In the drawer to your left."

"Hmm… ah, found one. Anyway, why do you think that I was the one who left evidence? I could have just as easily been Sensei. Both of us broke in before you got home." Decent point, she conceded.

"I highly doubt that Kakashi-senpai chose to break open my window instead of releasing the seal on my front door. He is certainly capable of devising a releasing jutsu sophisticated enough to deactivate it without leaving behind any signs of tampering."

Naruto grumbled. "Yah, well… maybe I staged it to look like that so you wouldn't be jealous of how awesome my unsealing jutsu is.

Sakura tried to disguise her laugh as a cough. No, no matter how much he had changed, he was still her Naruto. She ruffled his hair as she walked past him to grab some bowls from the cupboards.

"I know that you want to hear about everything we've been up to," Sakura started as she set the table, "but Tsunade-sama needs to be the first one to hear that story. The mission was classified you know… Or at least it was supposed to be before you went rummaging through her desk," she added when Naruto looked like he was about to protest.

The blonde pouted and turned back to stir the soup. "Keh, it's not like I learned anything other than you were about to come home, I didn't get the chance to stick around too long." Her heart crumbled. Not many grown men could pull a pout of that caliber and not look constipated.

"Well why don't you come with us to debrief Tsunade-sama. She might let you stay and listen, I mean, if you are actually her favourite and all," she teased wrapping her arms around him from behind. Damn him for being so… miss-able.

"There is a strong probability that she would allow that," backed Sai, "assuming that she read the preliminary report that we gave her last night. She should know what to expect."

Blue eyes sparkled. "Yeah! Oh course she'll let me stay. And afterwards we can hangout; there are a few new places that have sprung up while you were gone that I want to show you!"

"...Or you could repair the damage done to my window,"

A thought occurred to Sakura. "Speaking of repairing things, you're going to fix my front door too, right?"

The spoon he had been trying to balance on the tip of his nose slipped and he caught it in his hand.

"Well, uh, ya… Sometime, I guess–"

"And you'll clean up the ramen packages you left across my home, as well?" added Sai.

Naruto gulped and scratched the back of his head. "Heh, uh… Breakfast is ready!" he exclaimed, breaking Sakura's embrace and spinning back to the stove. "Hand me your bowls; it's time to chow down guys! There's plenty of time to plan stuff later."

* * *

><p>"Now then, who's ready for their prostate exam?"<p>

Each jounin felt a shutter run up his spine.

"Anyone volunteer to go first?" The edge of her glove gave a loud, rubbery snap as she pulled it into place with more force than necessary.

None of them dared to meet her eyes. Cowards. And they were supposed to be some of Konoha's elite.

"Really, I take time out of my day to personally examine this squad and this is the enthusiasm I get?" She didn't expect an answer to her question, but _oh_ did it make them squirm.

A tightly controlled voice spoke, "Ah, Hokage-sama, we are honoured that you are personally interested in our welfare, but we can assure you: there is no need for you to worry yourself over us..."

The group of men scattered around the hospital room quickly voiced their assent.

So Hideki had a pair of balls, did he? She would have to remember him when it came time to hand out promotions. Not many men could face her and her gloves. Well, now was as good of a time as any to test his mettle.

"Men, it is my duty as the head of this hospital to make sure every ninja who exits these doors is in perfect condition," she barked, "A little check-up isn't going to cut it this time; not a single man on this entire squad has checked in for his post-mission medical assessment for nearly four months. How many missions have you been on in that time?"

The men let out manly coughs and shared pained looks. Seriously, this was good for teambuilding - according to Ibiki, at least. 'Shared pain makes unbreakable bonds' or something.

"I asked, _how many missions have you been on_!" Each word was punctuated with a growl.

Three of them stuttered over each other in their haste to answer.

"Twen...twenty-six, Hokage-sama!"

"Thirty, Hok... Hokage-sama!"

"Tw... twenty-four, Ho... Ho... Hokage-sama!"

The squad captain swallowed loudly but remained calm.

"I believe that the number according to the mission logs is twenty-seven, Hokage-sama." Nice. Can keep calm in traumatic situations: check.

"Twenty-seven? Twenty-seven missions? Don't any of you know about the increase in rouge ninja attacks on our forces? Do I honestly have to remind you some jutsus that they use inflict long-term damage that can't be detected immediately?" She took a moment to stare each of the men down. "Last week one of our chunnins _died_ from a slow acting poison because he didn't bother coming in for his post mission examination. By the time he came down with a fever and was admitted to the hospital, it was too late."

All four of them hung their heads. She let her pronouncement sink in. Regardless of whether or not they knew the deceased, no ninja could remain unaffected. You never knew when death would take your own comrade.

Hideki broke the silence. "As team leader, I am responsible for all aspects of the mission, the aftermath included. I didn't enforce the mandatory medical check-ins, and I skipped them myself. If any of my squad had died, it would have been my fault. You shouldn't have had to personally call us in to check our health due to my negligence; but I promise that you will not have to step in again. Arigatou, Tsunade-sama," he added in a slightly broken voice.

Definitely promotion material.

"I'm very grateful that you called us in today," he ended.

The rest looked crestfallen, but not surprised after hearing their leader's confession. Humility: check.

"Good to hear. Shall we get started then?" _Snap_ went the other glove.

"Yes, thank you Tsunade-sama," the rest mumbled, looking decidedly green.

God, she loved her job.

_Knock, knock._

Tsunade turned to the door. "Enter," she called.

A young civilian nurse cracked open the door. Asami, she thought her name was.

"Um, sorry to disturb you, but Sakura Haruno, Sai Yoshida and Naruto Uzumaki are here to see you when you have a minute. They said you're expecting them." She caught a glimpse of pink, black and blonde behind the nurse.

Ah. Perfect timing.

"Send them in, this matter can't wait. Asami, would you mind taking these four into room seven and finishing up their examinations?"

The petit young woman bowed, "Of course not Tsunade-sama! No problem at all."

She gave the men her sternest look as Asami ushered the trio in. "I expect you to give Asami your full cooperation. No complaints!"

The men wrestled their gazes away from the young, bubbly brunette in the nurse's outfit to waggle their slack-jawed faces up and down in consent. They couldn't believe their luck.

Satisfied, Tsunade handed the ninjas' medical files and the necessary examination forms to the nurse. The men filed out after the nurse with a near tangible sense of relief. Only Hideki looked back as they exited the room; he gave her a slight nod. Her short-list for new captains just grew by one name.

After the door clicked shut she turned to regard the three in front of her.

"Well, I know why two of you are here, but what do you want, Naruto?"

Naruto gave her his best puppy-eyes.

"Baba-chan, you don't mind if I stay and listen to Sakura and Sai's debriefing, right? I mean, I'm just going to find out where they went anyway." He turned his simpering gaze to his two friends. "I've missed you two so much. You wouldn't _not_ tell me everything – who you met, and where you went, and what exotic types of ramen you ate, and what kind–"

_Wham_!

A stray clipboard found itself firmly implanted in Naruto's face.

"Naruto, sweetheart, quit whining. Just make your request and save us the theatrics."

"Sa... Sakura-san, why are you so mean to me?" he snivelled while clutching his nose. Sakura loved him, she really did; but underneath all the new muscle, the boy she first met long ago still shined through.

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "I thought that might be your request. As it stands–"

_Wham_!

The door flew open and hit the wall with a tremendous amount of force. Especially for a civilian woman.

"Tsu... Tsunade-sama!" The surprised ninjas took in the small nurse's frantic gaze and flushed cheeks.

"Yes, Asami?"

"It... They...," she took a deep breath and let it all out in one great rush, "The paperwork says that they need full physicals and prostate exams!" her voice cracked on the second last word.

"Yes it does."

The nurse paused, mouth agape. Tsunade was sure that the girl had finished her training. Pretty sure.

"Buh-whaa?" the nurse shrieked.

Sort of sure.

The girl started to hyperventilate.

Kind of sure?

Definitely time for damage control.

"... Which is why you'll have to ask one of the senior nurses for assistance."

The young nurse nearly fainted in relief. "Oh... yes. Of... of course. I thought for a moment... Never mind. Silly me!" she said with a stretched smile. "Sorry to disturb you, I just... Well I... I'm going to go now." She quickly stepped out of the room and hastily shut the door behind her.

"..."

"Well she was kind of cute," Naruto said, filling the silence.

Tsunade made a mental note to take the time to better acquaint herself with the new staff.

"Hm."

"The superfluous blood flow to her cheeks did suggest that she was unable to suppress genuine emotion. A quality that she shares with you, I suppose," Sai mused.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," the blonde drawled.

"No problem, Lieutenant Sarcasm."

"Anyway, why does it matter if–" Naruto broke off suddenly. "Wait. What?" he whispered, disbelief carved into his every feature.

"I was commenting on the fact that, based on a perfunctorily observation of a mutual characteristic and your attraction to the woman in question, it would not be unreasonable if the two of you were to pursue a friendship. A simple observation."

"No, you...," Naruto's voice lowered in undeniable awe, "you just gave me _attitude_."

Sakura unsuccessfully held back a snort.

Sai raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I was aiming for something closer to bantering."

Naruto just looked at him as if he had just professed his love for all things pink and purring.

" I feel like the world has just flipped upside-down. It, I... Gah! How am I–"

_Wham_!

Something hit the bottom of the door with enough force to pop it open. Muddy claws skittered across the linoleum floors in attempt to find purchase. A small pug scrambled into the room, leaving behind a wake of stunned medical personnel in the hall staring after it.

Pakkun crashed into her feet. "Tsu... Tsu..." the pug wheezed, out of breath and thoroughly exhausted, "Ya gotta help... gotta send help..."

A cold feeling of dread slid down her throat. Kakashi was on a mission, and if Pakkun was here...

"Area Twen... Twenty-Thee... the hideout is...," the pug stopped when several violent coughs wracked his little body, "it's militarized... Kakashi said it's got room for... for seventy to eighty ninja. But you gotta help him..." another cough, "he's still there, they found him, they had him surrounded."

Every human in the room paled.

"He was tired. I... I don't... I know he's _him_ but they were powerful. Organized." He coughed again. Flecks of froth sprayed on to the tiles. "I know where he is, I can take people there, but you gotta hurry!"

Something twisted in the bottom of her gut. It wasn't like Pakkun to be this worked up. She made a quick plan. "We'll finish this discussion later. Sakura, Sai, and Naruto," The three ninja snapped to attention,"I need the three of you to travel to Oto, guided by Pakkun. Conserve your energy and travel on ink-beasts – you're going to need it later. When you're ten miles out, split up and travel by foot. Naruto, Sai, scout out the area. Find this hideout and find the sentries. Do _not_ be detected. Sakura," her amber eyes flashed, "find Kakashi. Take Pakkun with you. Find him. Heal him. Bring him home."

She looked at the three ninja before her. They were poised on the balls of their feet, itching for the command that would send them from the room.

"None of you are to enter the building or engage in combat. I'll organize a backup squad immediately; you'll report to them as soon as they catch up to you for further instruction." No way in hell was she sending them into battle, not knowing what they were up against.

"Dismissed!"

Naruto grabbed the exhausted pug and slung him over his shoulder.

"See ya, Baba-chan. We'll get him back, don't worry. Just feel sorry for the morons that stand in our way."

Three of her best dashed from the room, intent on completing their squad.

She smiled weakly at her future successor's back. She didn't doubt their abilities, but she only hoped that they weren't too late.

* * *

><p><span>Author's Notes:<span>

1) I'VE FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL! Oh god, I could dance. Actually, screw that, I'm going to go waltz around my living room with my dog.

2) (Several minutes later) Okay, I'm back. Ah-hem. Sooo, yah. I haven't updated in a while because of the massive workload I've had, coupled with my actual job and life… well, things certainly got in the way. But here's a new chapter! Fabulous! I'm doing my best to write at least a page a day now.

3) These author's notes are probably going to be pretty short. Right now, nothing is coming to my head, except: Kakashi and Sakura are going to be reunited next chapter! It's about darn time, isn't it? Especially for a KakaSaku story. What can I say? I like to take my time with these things. (I actually meant for them to reunite this chapter, but every scene ended up being longer than I had intended – oops. Oh well, eleven pages for a chapter seems like a good amount to me. Besides, this story is the longest single story that I've ever writing non-fanfiction included!)

4) Subject change! I'm not sure if I'm going to use Asami again. Maybe. I kind of like her. I really didn't mean to involve her in the story at all – I just needed an opening line for the hospital scene and "Now then, who's ready for their prostate exam" came into my brain (the weird thing that it is) and things kinda went downhill from there... I needed someone to get the jounin out of the room and our three favourite ninja in, thus, the creation of the poor flustered young nurse.

5) Since starting this story, I've posted two other oneshots, so if you like my writing I would appreciate it if you checked them out! (Shameless self-promotion there, I know.)

6) Reviews make me swoon in delirium.

Hope you enjoyed reading!

Love, KaKiara.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters therein. I do not make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

><p>Blood soaked the forest floor. It squelched under her feet.<p>

_She was not too late, she was not too late, she was not too late…_

It sucked and gurgled around her sandals with each stride. The soggy ground had absorbed the blood and trapped it beneath the thin surface of mossy carpet, preventing it from drying.

_How much of it was his?_

She would have cringed at the warm, murky liquid bathing her toes and splashing across her calves if she wasn't so terrified. She forced her burning legs to go faster. She was supposed to come back stronger so she wouldn't ever have to feel this fear again. If he… no, she had to focus. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest

"Pakkun," her voice sounded strained and hoarse to her ears, "how much farther?"

"Almost there," the little pug wheezed out. His tongue lolled out, flecked with foam, but he didn't stop bounding from tree to tree.

She channeled more chakra into her screaming muscles and joined Pakkun in the low canopy.

They dashed past a corpse studded with kunai. Only the angry buzz of a cloud of flies alerted her to its presence; the rest of the forest was eerily silent. Above it, two sets of scarlet foot prints danced up and down the trees –a taijutsu master, then. They kept running.

How much ground could the battle have covered? She knew Kakashi was amazing and all, but hell, even he had to have limits. They had passed the first signs of the battle at least eight acres ago. She didn't even need Pakkun's nose now; a bloody trail told her the battle's story. Dried splatters, smeared handprints that had steadied cartwheeling bodies, and streaked footprints zigzagged across mossy bark, from the trees to the soil and back again. Each time the trail turned faint a fresh corpse provided ink for the next chapter of the battle.

Another corpse hung limply from a tree branch directly in their path. The flesh around the hole in his chest was charred. The mark of the raikiri. She was unsettled. To use that much chakra on one attack when he still had more opponents to face was near reckless. He must have been desperate. How strong were these rogue ninja? Who the hell were they?

"His scent is getting stronger," rasped Pakkun. "Just a little farther."

They emerged from the dense forest into a scene of destruction.

Everywhere, trees were uprooted. A layer of mud and dirt coated everything. The larger trees leaned against each other drunkenly, their trunks covered in scorch marks and shuriken. Craters peppered the area, giving the jungle an undulating base.

And everywhere bodies lay, their blood staining the vegetation.

Pakkun paused to sniff the air. "He's here. Somewhere, he's here." The tip of his tail nervously twitched as he bounded forward, nose to the ground. "I know he's here. He's going to be ok. I know it," he rambled to Sakura. "I would know if he... if he ever you know. It would break the summoning contract. I would know. I would know."

She couldn't think of anything to say so she kept her mouth shut as she cautiously weaved her way around fallen branches after the pug. Just because he was still alive didn't mean that he wasn't seriously injured. Still, she felt the same terrifying elation at being so close.

Pakkun paused, taking deep whiffs of the humid air. He froze. Sakura quickly followed his gaze. Underneath the shelter of two massive, fallen trees the outline of a man lay slumped over on its side.

_Kakashi_.

Panic jolted like liquid electricity up and down her body. Pakkun wasted no time to get to him. He raced through a shallow, murky pool, sending brown water flying into the air. She ran into the chilly water right behind him, throwing her arms out to balance herself on the uneven bottom.

Emerging at the other side, she jumped from the water and brushed strings of slimy lichen out of her away as she stooped under the fallen trees. She crawled the few remaining feet until she was by his side. Already there, the little pug let out a whine of agitation. "He's not awake, Sakura. Can you wake him up?"

Sakura leaned closer, twisting her torso to get a peek at his face. Sticky, dried blood plastered his hair to his features, obscuring the majority of it from her, but it was obvious he was unconscious.

"Give me a minute." If he hadn't regained consciousness this long after the fight, something was seriously wrong. Already she had started to tune everything out and focus on the injured man in front of her. She just had to remain calm.

Very carefully she manoeuvred herself in the cramped space over Kakashi. She settled down in the curve of his stomach. She didn't dare try to move him until she knew the extent of his injuries.

She took off her gloves and placed her hands on his side, sending a steady stream of warm chakra into his body.

What she found frightened the shit out of her.

It wasn't the cracked ribs, broken bones, gashes, pounds of bruised flesh, or the dangerously low level of chakra in his system that scared her.

A poison ran through his veins.

It had overcome his liver and seeped into his vital organs, slowing them down to a near standstill. His entire digestive track had stopped functioning, his immune system wasn't responding to her increasingly aggressive probes, and his muscles and respiratory system were fighting a losing battle. His lungs were nearly paralysed. Another couple hours and he would...

_Nope._

_Focus._

Tsunade had trained her to be better than this. Angrily, she choked down her fear and began a deeper assessment of his condition. The majority of the poison hadn't made its way to his brain. He must have been poisoned and _then_ attacked. After a moment of searching she found a small wound just above his elbow. The flesh around it was a gruesome mix of bruises and contaminated blood. That must have been the poison's entry point into his body. Just above it a long, disturbingly deep cut sliced the inside of his arm, cutting through his muscle and into a major artery.

She paused. Something about it seemed off. It was too clean. It was to close. Kakashi was unparalleled at taijutsu. There was no way someone could get that close to him, let alone cut him at that angle.

He didn't...

Her insides flipped. She felt queasy.

Oh god.

She glanced at his face. Under the grime and blood, his jaw was clenched tight in pain. Even unconscious, he couldn't escape it.

As awful as it was, it had probably kept him alive. The poison should have killed him within minutes, but at a lower concentration it had to fight to conquer his body.

"Alright Pakkun, this is going to take a while, but bear with me."

"Give it all you've got Sakura," the pug replied softly, settling down beside his friend's head.

She had to stop the bleeding and repair his vital organs before they drowned in contaminated blood. Much longer and they would be beyond repair. But the real challenge was _extracting_ the poison. She had encountered a similar type of poison only once before and she knew it was going to take all she had to safely remove it. But neither the issue of his damaged tissue and bleeding, or the poison could wait. Both had to be fixed _now_.

She stopped sending chakra into Kakashi's body and concentrated on rerouting it into her own.

"Kai," she whispered.

Slinky black bands of kanji, thick with her chakra, appeared around her biceps. Quickly, they bled down her forearms and down each of her fingers, transferring onto Kakashi's prone body. Upon making contact with his skin, they dispersed, snaking across his flesh, and curled around his most serious wounds.

"Seal."

The black ink glowed a soft green at her command.

"Release."

The seals twisted, opening. Her chakra, sealed inside the ink glyphs, poured out of the seals and seeped into his injuries.

From the corner of her eye she saw the little dog's ears perk up. This would be new to him. With renewed interest he watched her every move.

The healing technique she was using was the culmination of her work with Sai. It would exponentially improve Konoha's mission mortality rate and revolutionize their already superior medical system. No one had considered using a technique like this before. Well, at least not for healing.

Even genin knew you could seal Tailed Beasts, weapons, the tongues of your most dangerous agents, and even bind someone's chakra; but never had she heard of someone sealing _portions_ of their own chakra. Having your chakra sealed by your opponent was something that every ninja was taught to fear; without chakra, most were scarcely more than fit civilians. Chakra sealing, made famous by the Hyuga clan in Konoha, was always regarded as a weapon. With this fear firmly instilled in every academy student, it was no surprise that no one had considered the benefits of sealing parts of their own chakra.

She could sense her chakra, guided by the instructions weaved into the seal, penetrate deep into his body and coax his cells to respond, unaided by her. Her own chakra levels remained steady.

Well that was one half of the problem solved.

Now free to concentrate on extracting the poison, she placed her palms above his chest and sent her chakra into his body one more time. She tried to separate the telltale sign of Kakashi's own silver chakra from the alien tar tainting it, but the poison stubbornly kept a vice-like grip on his body.

Too bad you didn't survive being trained by a Sandaime without acquiring a healthy dose of pigheadedness of your own. She increased the amount of chakra she was channeling into him, mindful not to disrupt the work of the seals.

Slowly, very slowly, the poison began to leave his system and pool under her hands.

Pakkun let out an appreciative grunt.

Where had she encountered a similar poison? The memory nagged her, but she set it aside – everything was a distraction, important or not – and continued to grapple with the poison in his body.

Outside of their little shelter, night began to pull its blanket over the sky.

* * *

><p><em>God, she was exhausted.<em>

Weary to the bone, Sakura guided the last of the poison out of his body. Her head spun. Dizzy, her palms met the ground to steady her. Cool sweat trickled down the sides of her face. Damn, that had taken more out of her than she had expected. Panting, Sakura closed her eyes, waiting for the ground beneath her to stop lurching.

Unseen by her, a crimson eye cracked open and looked at her. The pupil was jagged and the tomoes spun drunkenly.

Pakkun sprang up.

"Sakura!"

Startled, her eyes flew open to meet at tired gaze.

"Kakashi," she whispered, bending closer.

With great difficulty he blinked and started to focus on her.

"Sak...ura?"

He looked awful. Bloody awful, in her opinion. Quite literally. But he was conscious and he was alive.

Elation swooped through her entire body.

"Hi. Welcome back."

Groaning, he closed the Sharingan and opened his own eye.

"... back?" He looked at her in confusion.

"To the real world," she confirmed.

"Oh," He looked groggy.

Pakkun stepped forward, the end of his tail furiously wagging. Kakashi gingerly propped himself up on an elbow and reached out to silently greet the pug. Rubbing Pakkun's ears, he took a moment to gather his thoughts.

"I thought for a moment when you said..." he slurred, half to himself, "I expected..." He trailed off, leaving his thought incomplete.

Kakashi looked around their enclave. He tried to push himself into a sitting position, but winced when his muscles protested.

"Don't push yourself," she warned, scooting closer to his side to steady him. Even though he was conscious, there was always the possibility that he had suffered a head injury. She hadn't found one, but with the number of bumps and bruises he had, she wanted to be cautious. With a sigh he settled back, resting against the side of a tree.

"You're...?" he mumbled.

"Yeah, I'm home now." She placed a glowing green hand on his chest to check his heartbeat and breathing.

"Ah. Good," he breathed, "You scared me for a moment there."

Intrigued, she looked up at him, but he was staring off into an unseen distance, lost in his memories.

His heartbeat was slow, but regular.

A gloved hand covered hers and another wrapped around her shoulders, gently pulling her forwards to his chest.

"We missed you." A chaste kiss was pressed on her forehead.

Crap, she would not cry.

"I missed you too," she whispered.

He examined her through tired eyes and gave a faint smile. Dirt lined the beginnings of fine lines on his face. He looked older than she could ever remember. She hugged him back.

She leaned back after a moment and tugged his headband over the still-spinning Sharingan.

"I need to take a closer look at that when we get home."

He nodded. It looked like speaking was too much of an effort for him now. Sure enough, his eyelid drooped and he nodded off moments later.

She didn't think she could bear to stay away that long ever again.

"I'll keep watch," offered the pug.

She could've kissed him.

"Thanks Pakkun. Naruto or Sai or someone should be here soon."

The little dog carefully picked a spot by his partner's legs and plopped down, resting but alert.

Relieved to have found Kakashi, Sakura let out a long sigh. Every muscle in her body decided to let her know just how overworked they were. Completely spent, she leaned against the fallen tree and stretched out her legs alongside Kakashi's. With him sleeping, she could finally take a moment to recuperate.

Her eyes drifted close. Before long she was fast asleep at Kakashi's side.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes:<p>

1) Hi there!

2) Well, last chapter I said I just finished high school... and now I'm leaving for university. Yah, I'm upset with how long it took me to update too. In my defense, important reunions are one hell of a bitch to write. Grrr, it's not even funny how long I spend so long writing and rewriting this chapter.

3) Any thoughts on how I did? Anything I could improve on? Leave me a review please! They make me smile like this :D And they're super encouraging.

Thanks for reading!

Love, KaKiara.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters therein. I do not make any money from writing fanfiction.

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><p>"It was deserted. Naruto and I conducted a search of the base with the backup squad after we secured the perimeter. There were no sentries."<p>

Back in the Hokage's office, Tsunade shook her head. Not a person to be found? It was unlikely that every ninja at the base was deployed with the task of dispatching Kakashi. Although that was certainly possible, particularly if they knew of him, there must have been others who had duties other than defense. Disgruntled, she decided to abandon that train of thought until Kakashi woke up and was able to tell her more about the base and its operations. That was, if he even had anything more to contribute to their intelligence. She let out a long sigh.

"And the base itself? Were Kakashi's preliminary observations correct?"

"Yes, his observations were remarkably accurate considering the limited time he had," Sai seemed to hesitate, "but if I may, it is too soon to make any final conclusions concerning exactly how much potential danger the site presents to Konoha."

"Oh? And why would that be?"

"We were not able to search the entire area."

An eyebrow shot up.

"Explain." The command was short and terse. The leaders of the retrieval squad who were packed into her office stiffened. Her temper was legendary.

Sai continued on smoothly, ignoring the tense atmosphere. "There are four levels to the base, the first beginning approximately thirty feet below ground. On the lowest floor there is a doorway that we could not open. It is ringed with multiple protective seals and surrounded with explosive tags. I believe that the tags will detonate if we attempt to breach the seal without taking appropriate cautionary measures. Nor do I believe that they are the door's only protection. Whatever is beyond the door way is undoubtedly integral to the function of the base."

A secret room? Tsunade's mind flew.

"Neji. Sensory Division's report."

Neji stepped forward beside Sai. He cleared his throat.

"We were not able to obtain any information on the area beyond the seals. It appears as though the seals disrupt any chakra attempting to pierce though them. No one was successful in sensing beyond the door."

Now _that_ was troubling. Genjutsu could be used to fool even some sensory type ninja, but clouding the Byakugan was no easy feat.

Troubled, Tsunade brooded. When she was younger, she would have marched down there and punched the door in if it weren't for the explosive tags. Now she had to sit back and strategize.

"Does anyone have anything else to add?"

Her ninja shook their heads.

"Dismissed then."

Tsunade remained in her chair as the room emptied. She swung her chair around leaned back, gazing out on the village below her. Everything about this situation wheedled its way under her skin. Orochimaru was dead. There had been no signs of any organized Sound ninja attacks since his death. So why now? And why in such large numbers?

"Shizune,"

"Yes Tsunade?"

"Get Shikamaru up here. We've got some work to do."

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><p>The smell of antiseptic bit her nose. <em>Glorious<em>.

Sakura breathed in deeply as she walked down the familiar halls of the hospital. The walls were bathed in golden light from the large windows on one side of the corridor. Humming to herself, Sakura looked out of the windows at the hospital garden a floor below. The morning's dew made everything glow gold in the early sunlight. Why hadn't she ever noticed that before? In fact, everything seemed pretty damn golden this morning. Maybe it was just her mood.

Gliding down the hallway, Sakura hoped that she wouldn't run into anyone who would question her presence in the hospital. Most of the staff were probably the same as when she left, but the thought of Tsunade warning them that she had been ordered home had crossed her mind.

Tsunade had ordered her to rest last night, leaving the official debriefing to Sai and members of the backup squad. Some of whom, she had been delighted to find, were members of the Konoha Eleven. She had been greeted by the sight of Tenten, Neji, Shino, and Kiba and Akamaru as they raced towards the compound. They hadn't had time for long greetings, her being loaded down with an unconscious, exhausted Kakashi, and them under strict orders to provide immediate aid to Naruto and Sai, but it had been a much needed, very joyous greeting as she could've hoped for.

After flying back home on an eagle ink-beast with Kakashi slumped against her back, she had dragged him to the hospital, leaving him in her Shishou's care after much cajoling and some not to subtle hints that she needed to go home and get some rest or else be placed on forced leave.

But that was yesterday. Tsunade hadn't specified how long she needed to rest at home for. Surely she was allowed back today. Besides, she hadn't completely exhausted her chakra; the healing jutsus imbedded in her seals had seen to that.

The low hum of two voices came from behind a closed door and someone's shadow crossed the panel of frosted glass. Feeling like a child scooting past a parent's turned back to steal from the cookie jar, she crept past the door on her tiptoes.

She smiled to herself as she sashayed down the hall until her stopped outside of a door and knocked as quietly as she could. No reply. As gently as possible, she turned the door handle and peeked into the room.

Kakashi lay in a narrow hospital bed, fast asleep.

Glancing behind herself mischievously, she stepped into the room and closed the door as silently as possible. Hospital infiltration: cha-check.

She circled around his bed and then relaxed into the lone visitor's chair between the bed and the window. Man did it ever feel good to be back. She had always loved her job, but it was nice to be able to take her time checking up on someone in the hospital without the pressure of getting her paperwork done before the end of her shift, or her conscience nagging her about not giving her patients equal time, or being hailed to clean up somebody's blood or vomit because _oh my shift is ending now so I can't do it, but I thought I'd let you know, Sakura-senpai._ She snorted, and immediately glanced guilty at Kakashi. He didn't move. Yeah, in spite of all of that, it would be good to come back to work. And after demonstrating a few new ways to seal chakra, she was willing to bet her best kunai Tsunade would have her teaching other medic ninjas not cleaning up vomit.

But Tsunade probably wouldn't have the time to see the culmination of her and Sai's efforts until at least tomorrow when she would be done dealing with the reports from the backup squad. In the meantime, Sakura was content to laze around and check up on Kakashi.

A clipboard on the table at the end of the bed caught her eye. Kakashi's medical forms. She stood up and bent over to pick them up and then plopped back down in her chair. Her foot bounced as she scanned the familiar forms.

She recognized her mentor's neat and clinical script. Chakra depletion, general exhaustion, scrapes and bruises. Nothing unexpected. No note on his Sharingan, so it was probably back to normal. All the same, she made a mental note to check on it when he was awake. Her seals had worked perfectly and hadn't missed anything vital. Proud of herself and immensely grateful to Sai, she opened her eyes and looked over at Kakashi's slumbering form.

The sun streamed in onto his body, setting his mop of hair, still muddy in places, ablaze in gold. How funny he would look as a blonde. She stifled a giggle. This time Kakashi heard her. A tired eye opened and focused on her.

"Sorry," she whispered, leaning closer to him, in too light of a mood to be truly sorry, "I didn't mean to wake you."

Kakashi blinked himself awake and breathed in deeply, letting out the air in a long sigh as he gingerly propped his head up and glanced around the room.

"You know," he mumbled, "talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity."

A smile spread across her face. "I wasn't talking to myself, I was laughing."

"Oh? At what? A man in a hospital bed?"

"I was imagining you as a blonde," she admitted.

"…"

Sakura let out another laugh. "Don't look at me like that."

Kakashi let his head flop back down onto the pillow and a groan.

"I… nevermind."

They sat in a companionable silence for many minutes while the sun warmed the room.

Finally, Sakura broke the silence.

"Thanks for the food," she said quietly.

Kakashi looked at her and then turned his head to look back up at the ceiling. "It's nothing."

Sakura smiled. "Seriously, thanks for breaking into my apartment."

He was quiet for a moment.

"Second weirdest sentence I've heard today."

"… Seriously."

His shoulders gave a slight shrug. "I figured stopping to pick up groceries wasn't going to be the first thing on your to do list when you got home; it's never on mine."

She made another mental note to return the favour in the future.

… Actually, she could return the favour today. Technically he did just get back from a mission; he might be stuck in the hospital and couldn't go home, but there was no reason why she couldn't bring some food to him.

"Are you hungry?" she enquired, "I could grab something from the market if you don't feel like hospital food."

At the mention of hospital food a pained expression crossed Kakashi's face.

"Oh come on, I know it's not the greatest, but the food here isn't _that_ bad."

His eye widened in disbelief. "Have you ever tried it?"

Well, now that he mentioned it, had she? "Um… I'm pretty sure I've had some of the free coffee in the break room…" she trailed off.

"Free coffee? They don't have that in the jounin lounge. Maybe I should have been a medic," he mused.

"Sorry sensei," she teased, reaching over and slipping a finger under his hospital bracelet and tugging his wrist up a few times for emphasis, "but being a patient is as close as you're going to get."

He paused and considered their hands. She watched him, curious, but he didn't move.

Feeling extraordinarily happy to be home, to be back in the hospital, to be beside a safe Kakashi, she slid her finger out of the plastic bracelet and let her hand come to rest in his.

"So. Breakfast?"

He looked up from their attached hands. "Maybe in a while."

She nodded and settled back in the chair and crossed her ankles on the edge of his bed. It was a great morning, she decided as they listened to birds chirping outside the window and the hospital come slowly to life.

Nearly imperceptibly, his fingers closed over hers.

It would be a while before Kakashi could get the image of his face with Naruto's sunshine locks out of his mind.

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><p>Author's Notes:<p>

1) Opening: Hi. Well, uh… well I'm not dead. Yes, let's start with that - on a happy note :)

2) Updates: Yes, I do realize that I have not updated in nearly a century. No, I don't think I am going to abandon this story – frankly I'm far too stubborn to do that and I have received too many nice reviews and requests to update to just stop now. Seriously though, thanks to everyone who reviewed. Rereading reviews always gets me excited about writing again, even when I haven't for written for quite a while.

3) Side Note: Tsunade's perspective again? I have no idea why I keep gravitating back towards her. Maybe I should write a oneshot from her perspective or something to get this out of my system.

4) Kakashi: ARGARBARLARBERBLARG! I am not happy with how I portrayed Kakashi in this chapter. Not. Happy. Don't know what went wrong, but it's going to be fixed for next chapter!

5) Length: When I first got the idea for this story, I didn't really have an ending planned. Good news folks! I have one now! (sort of – it's flexible.) I'm not going to drag this story on forever, in part because I have next to no experience in writing long stories that I haven't made meticulous outlines for, and in part because I don't have a whole lot of time now that I've started university (finishing this story AFTER I've finished my degree is not an idea that I fancy.) Thus, I've got a checklist of things get done in this story, relationships to build and create and I'm going to get them done pronto! I'm not going to sacrifice the quality of my writing just to get this finished, but I'm certainly not going to make this a huge saga. Just thought that I'd let you know. Writing this down helps me get my thoughts straight and keeps the brave souls who actually make it this far into the author's notes "in the know" ;P

6) Please do review. Let me know if this chapter seems out of place with the rest of the story since there was a substantial gap between writing it and the previous chapters. Hope you all are having great winter holidays!

Lots of love,

KaKiara


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